Love
by MikoNoNyte
Summary: Love is the hardest 4letter word to say.


On the 1 year anniversary of the Yuri/Alice Shrine. http (dot) www (dot) geocities (dot) com/uru (Underline ) aris/ (I'm sure you'll figure it out)

Title: Love

_Yuri is acting strange. Well, more strange that he usually does_, Alice Elliot thought. He was in fact acting quite nervous. He thrust his hands through his belts, then changed that to one fist jammed onto his hip, then changed again to his arms crossed over his chest. It was annoying Zhuzhen and Margarete no end and they both were threatening to bean him is he didn't stop, but it was young Halley who did it for them, loading one small kidney bean into his Crank-handled Slingshot and letting it fly.

Spew! Went the slingshot. Boink! Went the bean. Boom! Went Yuri as he exploded into action chasing the young street punk through Roger's house, up the spiral stairs and out into the ruins of Nemeton monastery.

"Well that's a relief," Zhuzhen said and settled his monocle to help him read. Roger had opened up his esoteric library to the elder sage and Zhuzhen was taking full advantage of it.

"I hope he doesn't get hurt," Alice said, clasping her hands at her breast and Margarete, looking up at her from cleaning her gun, smiled. She doesn't mean Halley, she thought.

"Why don't we catch them up then," the spy offered. "I can snag that young rascal and you can tame the beast." Margarete holstered her gun and climbed the stairs, not waiting to see if Alice would follow – she knew she would.

They found the duo in the ruins by the underground passage door. Yuri had wrestled the boy to the ground and the two of them were struggling, dirt flying, curses growling, clothing ripping and, when all was said and done, both ending up lying in the dirt, laughing.

"You give as good as you get, you little bastard," Yuri said through huffed laughter. In the dirt next to him, his face as begrimed as Yuri's, Halley snickered.

"You're no crème puff yourself. Whoosh! That was fun!"

Margarete paused at the head of the path, hands on hips.

"So much fun that you," and she pointed at Halley, "will be the first to take a bath." She jumped down to the stairway and yanked Halley to his feet before he could protest and began to drag him away.

"Ouch! No! Stop that you crazy old woman!" the young man shouted as he began to struggle and, as they moved away, Halley's voice and Margarete's staccato "What do you mean, OLD WOMAN?" echoed in the ruins. Yuri, still lying on the dirt, put his arms behind his head and laughed. It was only then that he spotted the long white stockings and delicate lace poking out from that enticingly short blue velvet dress. Instantly he jumped to his feet, brushing off the dirt and running a gloved hand through his messy hair.

Alice, standing where Margarete had not a moment before, captured her giggles behind her own gloves. _He can be such a kid sometimes_.

"Alice!" the young man exclaimed. "I didn't see you there, heh-heh." His laugh was nervous and he grabbed the back of his own neck, yanking slightly on the long hair brushing his coat collar.

"It's all right, Yuri. I just wanted to be sure you were well. You seemed so – so nervous lately. Ever since we got back from the Float."

Yuri looked up at the pretty young exorcist and suddenly the monastery ruins were gone. The silly boy, Halley, the spy genius Margarete, were ghosts flitting in the past and all that existed for the fusionist was Alice. He couldn't take his eyes off of her, eating the vision of her from her head with its silver-blonde hair and blue bow, down past delectable curves over breast and hips, and sliding down to the tapered lovely legs. Looking at her he felt his chest growing tight and his legs wobbling and he turned away, hiding the sudden flush to his cheeks.

"Ah- Alice," was the only thing he could say, his throat tightening.

Alice watched him, seeing his sudden blush and knowing that so much else was going on inside him that he could not or would not express. She knew he had feelings for her – he'd said so that day not so long ago. It struck her suddenly that _she_ had never told him how she felt. Zhuzhen had interrupted their conversation and Yuri had run off, too embarrassed to continue. She thought of how many times she had shown him her feelings over the past few days, how indeed she cared for him with her taking on that horrible curse! _He must know_.

Straightening her shoulders, Alice stepped down off the cracked and broken path and crossed over to the doorway to the underground caverns of Nemeton where Yuri stood, back toward her, his face still florid. She came up behind him and carefully slipped her arms around him from behind, avoiding his suddenly jerked elbow. She rested her cheek against the rough cloth of his coat, the warm, rich smell of him tickling her nose. Beneath her cheek she felt his body stiffen and then slowly relax, the gentle bellows of his breathing familiar to her ears from those cold nights they had spent wrapped up in his old, frayed blanket.

"I love you, Yuri," she said softly.

Yuri froze when those soft hands slipped around him, his heart suddenly booming in his chest. He barely stopped himself from defensively striking her, pulling his arms in close, pinning her hands to him. He cupped her hands in his, feeling her face on his back, listening to her soft voice, muffled slightly by his coat, and felt his insides go soft with longing.

"I've loved you since China, and each day since then my love for you had grown. That's why I took on the curse, Yuri. Because I love you. Win or lose, live or die, I love you."

Holding her hands to his chest, her delicate fingers protected by white gloves, he reveled in the words she spoke. Warmth suffused through him and when she had stopped speaking he turned in her embrace, taking her into his arms, holding her still.

"I ain't much for words, Alice," he said, bending slightly and putting his mouth near her hair, the scent of her soap tickling his nose. "I get all tongue twisty and say stupid things – when really I wanna tell you how I feel. I'd go to the ends of the earth for you – hell! we did that! And I'd fight the devil himself. I just wanna…" he trailed off and lowered his head to her's, resting his cheek on her soft hair, closing his eyes for a moment. _I love her so much_, he thought, _that I just wanna eat her up. Hold her tight and let nothing get between us. … How possessive I sound!_ Memory of a dream floated up before him, a misshapen thing going down before the onslaught of his fists, with echoes of "_My woman"._ A frisson of fear clutched him for a moment and he opened his eyes, looking up to search the ruins for danger_. Fool! It was your own ignorance that caused that. But not anymore. She's safe. She's mine_.

"Alice," he finally spoke, his voice thick with emotion. "Alice, I love you too. An' I wanna marry you." There, he said the words. He had tried in vain all morning to come up with a way to say it – some sweet, romantical way to delight her delicate ears. But that wasn't his way and he knew it. "I ain't rich or nothing, and we'll probably have to scrape by most days, but I'll never let ya starve, nor go cold, nor get hurt… I swear it!"

Alice, held tightly in Yuri's arms, leaned closer into his chest with those words thrumming in her ears. Money didn't matter, nor roofs nor beds; how often had those three things been missing this past year! What mattered was Yuri. No matter the hardships ahead, together they would make it, as family.

"Yes, Yuri, yes," she said into his chest.

Yuri's world suddenly grew brighter and he lifted Alice by her hips, bringing her up to face him, his eyes devouring her. She was his, now and forever. Love seemed like a silly word, and possession such a dirty one, yet to Yuri he felt both love and possession. This was _his_ woman, and he was _her_ man. He pulled her close then and buried his face in her chest, letting her wrap her long, thin arms around him as he spun around, laughing and smiling like a kid. Together they danced, as one they danced, and when the dancing and laughter died down they stood arm in arm, lip to lip and pledged each other their undying love.


End file.
